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Can anybody give me a complete install list for all the various bits and pieces needed to get a "current" VS2005 environment up and running under Vista. Trying to work out what the order of which bits should be is a complete head-fart because of different
dependencies.

So far I think the order is:

- Visual Studio 2005 (because you won't get SQL Express used by a lot of examples if you install SQL Server 2005 first)

I don't even want to think about what follows that (all the different add-ins for VS2005) but if anybody can point me to a good blog entry that lists the required order and possible links for the different bits and pieces it would be much appreciated.

I must say that so far I'm very impressed with the beta's of Virtual PC 2007 (solid as a rock, actually it's a Release Candidate rather than a beta now I come to think about it) and Adobe Photoshop CS3 (also solid as a rock after sorting out Bridge CS3 beta
2 problems as described in the readme file)

I'd seen that but it doesn't help. Microsoft seem to blindly ignore the fact that people want SQL Express AND Studio Manager which means installing the full product, or realise that uninstalling one can then cause problems with another if Visual Studio and
SQL Server aren't kept in cstep. Hence my original post. It's like the nightmare of MDAC versions in the old days, only much worse because the only information out there is on blogs, based on specific betas or combinations which aren't necessarily valid today.

I'm also looking for a sensible set of instructions for installing all the templates for the different bits. Again that link just talks about the most basic VS2005 installation under Vista, not one that uses (God forbid!) a database and wants add-in tools
for WF, WPF, Cider etc.

In an effort to provide customers with more secure products, Microsoft Windows Server "Longhorn" and Microsoft Windows Vista are supported by SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Service Pack 1 (SP1), and for all other editions will be supported by
SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later when it becomes available

Indeed it does (or would if I hadn't already jumped through the hoops necessary to get Express and Developer Edition installed).

Red5 wrote:

I think I also did this too

Yes, at least VS2005 tells you about this when you start it up, although it's worrying how long this has been in beta with the references to "when Vista is released" as if it hadn't happened yet (it was officially RTM'ed in November unless I'm going mad!).

I'm coming around to the idea of waiting another month and running XP SP2 until then in the hope that eventually Microsoft will get SQL Server SP2 out the door as RTM along with the VS2005 SP1 update at RTM level too (how long does it take? Vista has been
putting messages about Server SP2 being needed out for a good six months now, and it's still not here). Too many bad experiences uninstalling VS2005 beta's in the past where I was left with a totally screwed VS2005 that meant a complete new OS install.

So what are you guys doing about SQL Server Reporting Services? This can't be installed because SQL Server (without any SP) doesn't recognise IIS as having been installed, presumably because it's now IIS7 on Vista, instead of IIS 6?

I hope this problem goes away with SP2. Why they can't ship SQL Server with a service pack already applied is beyond me. At least if they did that you wouldn't be in this catch-22 of running a version that was released before Vista went RTM and hence gave you
a bunch of install time errors fixed in a later Service Pack.

So what are you guys doing about SQL Server Reporting Services? This can't be installed because SQL Server (without any SP) doesn't recognise IIS as having been installed, presumably because it's now IIS7 on Vista, instead of IIS 6?

Thanks. Previous experience with the whole SQL Express vs SQL full edition mess when it was first released means that was the order I'd installed stuff in.

It's frightening how often I've forgotten that IIS isn't pre-installed before rushing to install SQL Server 2005 though. The main problem with this stuff is remembering the order of different service packs and all the optional pieces that need to be based on the
order of the release dates. (VS2005 SP1 gets kind of funky in that it came out BEFORE SQL SP2 on XP but AFTER SQL SP2 on Vista and you know that there is .Net stuff is common between the two of them). It would be nice (common sense even!) if Microsoft actually
documented the order of the various bits and pieces in a KB article somewhere, particularly when it gets to things like SDKs and the "optional" features that most developers want. References to Vista SDK or .NET 3.0 SDK get very confusing because naming is
very inconsistent and then you follow an RTM link, deciding to steer clear of beta stuff, to find you're downloading a file called "orcasxxxx.exe"